NYC #63: Story Stone, Maple Grove Cemetery (4), Kew Gardens, Queens

'In the late 19th century,
many African Americans
were buried in unmarked graves
near this stone. Hundreds of
impoverished children and adults –
taken early in life by the diseases of
the times – were brought to "common"
graves from New York City homes and
hospitals. Buried here as well, are
African-American residents of
Jamaica, Queens who helped build
our vital Community.

Day of Remembrance
September, 2005'

NYC #62: George Washington Johnson, Maple Grove Cemetery (3), Kew Gardens, Queens

'GEORGE WASHINGTON JOHNSON
(1846–1914)

THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL AFRICAN AMERICAN RECORDING STAR IN RECORDING HISTORY. ALTHOUGH BORN A SLAVE IN VIRGINIA HE WAS TAUGHT TO READ AND WRITE AND LEARNED MUSIC [.] TRAVELING TO NEW YORK CITY IN THE 1870S HE DEVELOPED A MUSICAL CAREER WITH A STRONG VOICE AND A TALENT FOR WHISTLING AND LAUGHING IN TIME WITH MUSIC. HE PERFORMED ON THE STREETS, FERRIES AND PUBLIC PLACES. ONE OF HIS EARLY SONGS WAS THE LAUGHING SONG. HE RECORDED SONGS IN 1890 FOR THE METROPOLITAN PHONOGRAPH COMPANY AND WITH THOMAS EDISON ON WAX CYLINDERS. THE EARLY RECORDINGS WERE DONE INDIVIDUALLY BY GEORGE. BEST SELLERS IN THE UNITED STATES, SELLING OVER 50,000 COPIES.

"HE NEVER THOUGHT OF HIMSELF AS A PIONEER BUT AS THE FIRST BLACK RECORDING ARTIST HE MADE HISTORY."            TIM BROOKS LOST SOUNDS

FRIENDS OF MAPLE GROVE CEMETERY – MUSICARES 2014'

NYC #61: Don Marquis, Maple Grove Cemetery (2), Kew Gardens, Queens

Don Marquis (1878–1937) was a humorist, a novelist, a poet, and a journalist who in the early part of his career was an assistant editor to Joel Chandler Harris. E. B. White found him very funny, and he was much respected by the Algonquin Round Table. His publications include the novels Danny's Own Story (1912), Cruise of the Jasper B. (1916), Pandora Lifts the Lid (1924), Off the Arm (1930), and Sons of the Puritans (1939); his short stories include Carter and Other People (1921), The Revolt of the Oyster (1922), When the Turtles Sing (1928), Chapters for the Orthodox (1934), and Sun Dial Time (1936); and his poems include Dreams & Dust (1915), Poems and Portraits (1922), Sonnets to a Red-Haired Lady and Famous Love Affairs (1922), and The Awakening (1924).

NYC #60: Martin Branner, Maple Grove Cemetery (1), Kew Gardens, Queens

Martin Branner (1888–1970) was a cartoonist most noted for the creation of Winnie Winkle, a strip character who appeared in newspapers for fifty years, and was considered a little too sexually daring by some people at the time.